Moral imagination: Feeling pain of others

Moral imagination

I am a fan of Alexander McCall Smith. He teaches law at the University of Edinburgh and writes mystery novels such as his popular series set in Botswana. The series begins with The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency.
In a different mystery novel, The Sunday Philosophy Club, Smith’s leading character is a Scottish philosopher, Isabel Dalhousie. In analyzing a mysterious situation, Isabel speaks of moral imagination as the capability of imagining the feelings or sufferings of others that can prevent us from causing harm to others. In her musings, Isabel wonders if it is possible that an entire generation could be devoid of moral imagination.
As a Christian, I am frightened by that thought. If a generation can be devoid of moral imagination, isn’t that a judgment on religious folks like us? Even if Jesus didn’t use that lofty term, it describes a goal of his life and ministry, that is, teaching us to have the moral imagination to put ourselves in the place of others so that we might serve their needs. Jesus’ death was an ultimate expression of having moral imagination, for he so fully entered into others’ suffering that he sacrificed his own life for others.
When I considered what it means to be devoid of moral imagination, I thought of the chilling footage of the BTK mass murderer. He was quietly and precisely telling the court about every act of every crime he committed against a series of women of all ages. If you hadn’t been able to hear his actual words, you might have thought he was giving a lecture on some boring subject. Instead, he was calmly detailing the horrible things he had done as he murdered these women. Apparently, he lacked the moral imagination that might have prevented him from inflicting this horror.
When I considered what it means to have moral imagination, I thought of singing in worship July 3 these words to the hymn, “This is My Song:”
This is my home, the country where my heart is; here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine; but other hearts in other lands are beating with hopes and dreams as high as mine.
It takes moral imagination to recognize that though I truly love my own nation, I am not the only patriot in this world who has such feelings.
The day I write these words is the day that London has been bombed. After I got past the concern for individuals I love who live there and who might have been hurt, I wondered what this tragedy has to do with moral imagination or its lack.
God forgive our insensitivity to the terrible harm we do when we are incapable of imagining the feelings or suffering of others. Christ, have mercy upon us.